Oh my goodness, Jeff Luhnow is a Jedi and can mind trick people into trading him players for actual peanuts.

Ok, couple of real thoughts:

Everyone calm down. While the Astros are making very savvy moves this offseason, there are still 162 games to be played plus 11 wins needed in the playoffs.

But…still.

The Astros’ acquisition of Gerrit Cole signifies that the 2017 World Champions have no plans of resting on their laurels but rather have every intention of making a run at being the first repeat World Series winners in 18 years.

The Astros pitching rotation going into 2018:

Justin Verlander

Dallas Keuchel

Gerrit Cole

Lance McCullers

Charlie Morton

Charlie Morton, who threw the final pitch in Game 7, is the Astros’ 5th starter.

Also, wanna see something cool?

2011 – Gerrit Cole (1st Round, #1 pick)

2011 – George Springer (1st Round, #11 pick)

2012 – Carlos Correa (1st Round, #1 pick)

2013 – Mark Appel (1st Round, #1 pick)

2014 – Brady Aiken (1st Round, #1 pick)

2014 – Doug Fisher (1st Round, #37 pick) – (note: It is significant that he was not given up in the Cole trade)

2015 – Alex Bregman (1st Round, #2 pick)

2015 – Kyle Tucker (1st Round, #5 pick) – (note: It is significant that he was not given up in the Cole trade)

2016 – Forrest Whitley (1st Round, #17) – (note: It is significant that he was not given up in the Cole trade. You seeing a trend here? Luhnow is a genius.)

That’s a lot of youth and vigor.

Now, let’s talk bullpen….or rather ask the questions we are so often used to asking.